Reports: Virat Kohli to take a break from cricket, to stay in London with family after England series

Virat Kohli‘s slump in batting form has meant that he has not succeeded in scoring a century since November 2019. Meanwhile, the batting megastar has been rested for the upcoming limited-overs series against the West Indies, starting July 22 as a part of his workload management and would now be seen in action during the Asia Cup 2022, starting August 27.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Kohli will stay back in London after the conclusion of the ongoing all-format bilateral series against England, to spend some time off with his family. India will be locking horns with the Three Lions in the series-deciding third One Day International at Old Trafford, Manchester on Sunday, July 17.

“Kohli will be joined by his mother and extended family during the break,” a Times Now report said. It adds that “Kohli will avoid cricket during the said time and will kick off the preparations for Asia Cup 2022 from August 1. Kohli is in England with his wife and daughter.”

Meanwhile, apart from Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah has also been rested for the West Indies series as the duo has neither been named in the ODI nor T20I squads. Shikhar Dhawan will be leading the Men in Blue in the three One Day Internationals, with regular skipper Rohit Sharma rested for the ODIs. Rohit will be back to lead India in the five T20Is.

Kohli has had a forgettable tour of England so far as he could only manage scores of 11 and 20 in the rescheduled fifth Test match and scored 1 and 11 in the two T20Is. While the batting icon did not play the ODI series opener, he could score only 16 runs in the second game at Lord’s, which India went on to lose by a mammoth margin of 100 runs. He would now be hoping to bring out his A-game in the decider at Manchester as India eye their first ODI series triumph on English soil after 2014.